Tamiya 1/35 British Universal Carrier - a beginner begins...

[John Rixon]

Right, here goes. After two aborted attempts (both of models that fell into my hands - more on that later) - I decided upon a Tamiya kit for my first model for 40 odd years! Sniffing around a few forums and YouTube, I discovered a world of info that simply didn't exist when I was last doing this, which fuelled my enthusiasm - what could possibly go wrong…! well, what went wrong was a Revell 1/32 P51B, a gift from a few years back. What a dog of a model, old tooling, so much flash I felt I was carving pieces from raw styrene, and warps galore. This was not a good place to start. I'm sure that experienced modellers would make a great build from this, but I just found it demoralising! So I put it aside for later and bought the above kit. Oddly enough, the tooling was even older than the Revell, but all was beautiful in this box! True, it is small, and in parts, fiddly, but it has gone together beautifully and has restored my waning confidence!

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I'm brush painting this, mostly as I feel it's gonna be covered in dirt etc, and I don't have an airbrush - yet - and now am about to start on the totally new area for me, making it look old and used. have stocked up on weathering powders and washes, but guess I need to varnish first.

Will keep you posted!

 

[dubster72]

That's a good start John! Keep us posted

Cheers

Patrick

 

[PaulTRose]

looking good, got one of these in the stash that ive not got round to starting

one tip tho.....apparently, if you want to use the driver he has to be added before the front armour plate is attached or he simply will not go in......or so ive heard

 

[John Rixon]

At present, am not planning on using the figures, the included Bren guns and lee enfields are going to keep me occupied on the small-work front! But yes, you are correct, if I'd wanted to add driver, I'd be a bit stumped! Have kept a lot of parts unglued still to make sure I can get in those little cracks for weathering. That's all going to be a complete leap of faith!

 

[noble]

This is looking good so far.

scott

 

[eddiesolo]

Nice start, like it.

Si

 

[Polux]

Very nice start

 

[John Rixon]

Thanks folks, its always good to get some feedback! I feel that I need to bite the bullet and get this weathering done. Am I right in gleaning from other posts, that varnish before weathering is essential?

 

[eddiesolo]

Yes, it stops the pigment fixer from attacking the paintwork, also if you do a oil wash, using oil paints and meths that will attack the surface.

Si

 

[eddiesolo]

I varnished mine prior to adding pigments, although yours is not going to be a total rust bucket :D

Si

 

[John Rixon]

Wow, that is awesome, and what an original approach to take!

Roger that about the varnish then.

 

[John Rixon]

Hah! I was dreading this really tiny stuff, but I strangely enjoyed doing this!

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[monica]

good start and nice work so far,do like the looks of the gun well done

 

[papa 695]

Nice start John, and what great work on the gun

 

[aaron]

The best thing about glossing before you wash is that if you make a mistake with the wash then it can simply wipe off. I like to gloss before painting detail parts like tools so if I'm messy with handles or metal parts I can clean it up with a damp brush.

your bren looks really nice mate.

 

[flyjoe180]

That is a really great start John. Agree with what Aaron says about the gloss coat.

 

[John Rixon]

Eek, first big hiccup - those tamiya decals are proving very reluctant to be separated from their sheet…can't believe I just wrecked BOTH stars, and I thought I was being really careful:mad:.

Also, note to self, any pre-painted parts, from now on, to be affixed with cyano, if they are too small to remove the paint!

Weathering going slowly but ok, keep reminding myself that this is the first one, and as such, is not gonna be perfect!

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Patience John, patience...

 

[PaulTRose]

this is the first one, and as such, is not gonna be perfect!.

looks pretty good to me!

 

[Ian M]

Its a good little model and builds well. You sir are also making a very good job of it as well.

Great job on the Bren gun.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Ian M

 

[dave]

Looking good so far.